The Penguins got exactly the kind of opening-night performance that can make a team feel good about itself. The offense rolled to a 7-0 win Wednesday, Arturs Silovs opened the season with a shutout for the second straight year, and the new faces chipped in right away. Nicholas Robertson scored twice, Hendrix Lapierre added one, and Ville Koivunen jumped in with a slick breakaway goal from a makeshift third line that helped swing the game.
Still, the part that really mattered for Pittsburgh wasn’t just that Silovs stopped all 19 shots he saw. It was how little pressure he actually faced. The Penguins kept the puck away from dangerous areas, and the defense across the board turned in a sharp, clean performance.
That’s worth noting because the blue line is one of the biggest unknowns on this roster. There are obvious swing factors elsewhere - the goaltending, and the young forwards like Ben Kindel, Koivunen, Egor Chinakhov and Robertson - but the defense has long looked like the group with the lowest ceiling.
Erik Karlsson remains a Hall of Fame-level talent and is coming off a great season, but he’s 36. Kris Letang still has that Hall of Fame case, too, even if he has slowed more than anyone else in the core.
Beyond those two, the questions pile up fast.
And yet, this version of the group looks better to me than the one Pittsburgh started with a year ago. It’s not built like a Stanley Cup defense, not by a long shot, but it is a very different unit than the one that opened last season with Sam Girard, Kaedan Korczak, Declan Carlile and Trevor van Riemsdyk.
There are reasons to like each of those players. Girard never really got a fair first look because of the adjustment to a new team and system, and because he wasn’t healthy.
He got better as last season went along and was one of the Penguins’ best defensemen by the end of the playoff series. On Wednesday, he was sensational.
Korczak fits the mold of a younger player who has already shown he can handle limited minutes and sheltered usage, and probably deserves more of both. Carlile has the kind of late-bloomer feel that can lead to a surprise NHL breakthrough.
Van Riemsdyk is the steady one - not flashy, not loud, just dependable. There were a few moments Wednesday when he helped bail out Letang, and that pairing could work.
The numbers from opening night backed up the eye test. Each pairing - Karlsson-Carlile, Korczak-Girard and Letang-van Riemsdyk - finished with an expected goal share above 80 percent. Every duo was on the ice for at least one Penguins goal, and van Riemsdyk was the only one of the six who didn’t record a point.
Even with all of that, there’s a pretty obvious caveat here: the opponent was Philadelphia. The Flyers aren’t built to punish you offensively, and after Pittsburgh controlled them on Wednesday, they came back on Thursday and were again shaky in possession and attack, even if the scoreline looked different. They’re going to have trouble scoring all season, and it’s also still early, with a short training camp and preseason leaving everyone a little rusty.
So yes, the Penguins handled what was in front of them. The real question is what happens when the test gets tougher.
That arrives Saturday, when the Montreal Canadiens come to town.
Montreal brings a very different kind of challenge. Nick Suzuki is one of the league’s best two-way centers.
Cole Caufield has increased his goal total every year in the NHL and scored 51 last season. Juraj Slafkovsky is an absolute tank of a human being.
Ivan Demidov brings sublime skill and playmaking. Lane Hutson is already an early-season Norris candidate and can hurt you offensively.
And then there’s Chris Kreider, a long-time Penguins nemesis added to the mix.
The Canadiens still have flaws to clean up before anyone starts calling them a Stanley Cup team, and they remain something of an unfinished product. But the talent is real, especially up front, and Pittsburgh had some trouble with them a year ago.
It’s only Game 2, so nothing Saturday will settle the season. But it is an early measuring stick, and the Penguins’ new-look defense is about to find out a lot more about itself against one of the league’s faster and more dangerous offenses.
In Other News...
Flames May Have A Familiar Blue Line Option Back In Play
Blake Lizottes start to the season has already hit another snag for the Penguins. After being activated from injured reserve and getting into just one game, the forward is now being evaluated for a lower-body injury, and he did not practice Thursday as the club went back to work following the opener.
For Pittsburgh, it adds another layer of uncertainty to a roster that is still trying to settle in early. The Penguins do not have a timeline yet on Lizottes return, which leaves his status open-ended while the team waits to see whether this is a short-term setback or something that lingers beyond the immediate stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Suddenly Have A Saturday Lineup Question Fans Didn't Expect
The Penguins daily lineup picture changed Thursday afternoon when Rutger McGroarty was sent to Wilkes-Barre, another reminder of how quickly a teams options can shift during the season. Pittsburgh has already been juggling different layers of roster business around the league, from trade chatter involving defensemen to the bigger debate over how players can shape movement with no-trade clauses.
Friday brought a fresh wrinkle when practice opened with one forward absent and another back on the ice, adding a little more uncertainty to how Saturday could look. The returning player also appeared to be moving well, which gives the coaching staff something positive to weigh, but the missing name left just enough of a question mark to make this one worth watching as the weekend approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Get An Important Kuzmenko Step At A Crucial Time
The Penguins got a meaningful boost at practice when Andrei Kuzmenko was back on the ice after a leave of absence for personal matters. His return comes at a significant time for a team that can use every healthy body and every bit of continuity it can get as it tries to stay organized and competitive through the grind of the season.
Kuzmenkos absence was tied to the death of his father, Alexander, which made the pause away from the team much bigger than hockey. His reappearance at practice does not answer every question, but it does give Pittsburgh a more stable picture in the short term and a chance to keep moving forward while respecting what he has been through. [Read more 🡒]